“We previously knew that face-to-face CBT sessions could be helpful for treating IBS and this type of treatment is recommended in the National Institute for Clinical Excellence’s guidelines.

However, in my experience as a GP, I have found that availability is extremely limited.”

The study included 558 patients who had already tried different IBS treatments but didn’t see any improvement.

After a year of the phone or online CBT, participants saw a great reduction in severity of symptoms, improvements at work and quality of life when compared to those who only had their usual IBS treatment.

Dr Everitt siad:

“The fact that both telephone and web based CBT sessions were shown to be effective treatments is a really important and exciting discovery.

Patients are able to undertake these treatments at a time convenient to them, without having to travel to clinics.”

Professor Rona Moss-Morris, who developed a self-management version of CBT for IBS, said:

“The most important next step is for these tailored CBT treatments to be made more widely available.

Professor Trudie Chalder and I are currently training NHS therapists at pre-existing Improving Access to Psychological Therapy (IAPT) services, so that more people suffering from IBS can access these treatments quickly.

We are also working with a commercial partner to bring web-based CBT to the NHS and other parts of the world.”

About the author

Mina Dean is a Nutritionist and Food Scientist. She holds a BSc in Human Nutrition and an MSc in Food Science.